Potato Farming

Okay let me just first say that I am now officially a Peruvian: I spent a day slaving away cultivating potatoes in a farm. And a week later my hands are still full of blisters.

Last weekend my Peruvian family took me up to "la puna" which is the Quechua word for farm/land in a high place. Going to "la puna" usually first requires transportation in some kind of taxi or bus to take you to the mountain base, and then it requires hiking up the side of a mountain before finally arriving.So my Peruvian mom and four little siblings and I got up at 5 am, took a bus to the base of the mountain where they have their farm, and hiked up to the top to arrive to the farm. 

My Peruvian mother (Benita is her name) grew up on this farm and her parents still live there. Her parents are in their 70s and they climb up and down the side of a mountain every time they have to leave their home. Incredible, right?! On their farm they grow potatoes which is the only crop they can naturally grow because the altitude is so high. They build their own green house in which they can grow other vegetables. They also have a huge flock of sheep, pigs, guinea pigs, cows, horses, and chicken. Not only do they care for everything on the farm at their age, but they also care for 3 of their grandchildren who live with them. 

I even got the pleasure to help them cultivate potatoes! They didn’t want me to help because I was the guest, but I insisted. We spent most of the day planting potatoes and it was hard work! By the end of the day, I had blisters on my hands and an aching back. Benita’s father is 79 years old and still works so hard every day on his farm. When are you are a farmer in Peru, you don’t get retirement. You work hard until you can no longer move. It truly amazes me because they work SO hard and they literally live almost completely off of their land with out having to buy any food from outside the farm.

The Peruvian culture and people continue to amaze me and teach me new life lessons about simplicity and humility. I am so blessed!  

Their home. Just look at those mountains!

A very large guinea pig! It's the size of a small dog!

The guinea pigs live on the floor in the kitchen

Planting potatoes! 

To cultivate a potato you literally plant an entire potato in the ground

At age 79, Benita's father works so hard every day on his farm.

A family photo in the potato field. 

The youngest grandchild playing in the kitchen

The beautiful view from the house

Another view of their home

Riding their cute little donkey

On of the older grandchildren

It was a very fun weekend on the farm! I am so thankful for all the amazing opportunities and wonderful people that I know in Peru!

The Beauty of my Backyard

I recently had the opportunity to visit a somewhat hidden treasure that Huallanca has. It´s a mountain called “Chaupijanca” that is just behind the town of Huallanca. It´s a beautiful snowcapped mountain but unfortunately it´s on the property of a mine which is what makes it somewhat hidden and difficult to access. You literally have to get permission from the mine to enter the property where the stunning Chaupijanca sits.

The mine decided to take a tourist group up to visit Chaupijanca, so fortunately I was able to go and I was blown away at how beautiful it was.

Chaupijanca from a distance.

Too beautiful for words!

The rocks up there were incredible...too bad they will be mined away eventually :(

The beautiful lagoon fed by Chaupijanca

My favorite mountain in Huallanca that can be viewed no matter where you are. It´s called Ñatin Chaupac. 

It´s hard to believe that this kind of beauty is so close to where I live, yet so hard to access because of the mine. I definitely hope to return to this beauty again while I still live in Huallanca!! 

Boys Leadership Camp

This past weekend the volunteers in Ancash put on an overnight boys leadership camp in Huascaran National Park. We were each allowed to bring two boys from our site and unfortunately, the boys I were going to bring “slept in” and missed the early morning bus to Huaraz with me and so couldn't go to the camp. I was really disappointed because the camp would have been such a great experience for them and if I would have known they were going to flake out then I would have chosen to bring other boys. But having people not show up at the last minute or flake out on your is a pretty common thing that happens with Peruvians but I was still really sad and upset that they didn't show up since I had talked to them so much about it for several months and really thought they were going to come. I went to the camp to help out anyway even though I didn't end up bringing boys and I still had a really fun time.

We taught the boys about things such as: caring for the environment, teaching how to make compost from scratch, teaching different career paths by bringing in a panel of professionals, machismo and how to respect women, self-esteem, leadership, sexual education, etc. On the last day of the camp we took them for a half-day hike to a nearby lagoon. The boys all had a blast and learned a lot and us volunteers also had a really great time :)

Showing the boys the tree farm

Teaching the boys how to make compost

Compost!

The view from our campsite. The views in Ancash are always amazing :)

Arriving to the lagoon after the hike, the water was so clear!

The end of the hike. 

Having a closing discussion at the lagoon at the end of the hike. The hike was the last activity we did at the camp. 

Group photo with the boys and volunteers at the end of the hike :)

Our last group pic...a "silly" pic :)